Drive for handling multiple size information storage media cartridges and cartridges therefor

ABSTRACT

A drive can handle media cartridges of differing physical size provided the relative positioning of the drive/control mechanism and the media access opening for the cartridges can be held constant. Numerous possible structures and cartridges using this concept are disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to information storage media drives andcartridges therefor, and in particular to a computer media drive capableof handling a variety of media cartridges having physically differentsizes, as well as cartridges for such a drive.

2. Description of the Related Art

Tape and disk cartridges and cassettes have been used for decades in thecomputer, audio and visual fields. The cartridges themselves have comein a large variety of sizes and types. However, during this entireperiod, any individual drive was designed to handle only one physicalsize media container. The drive might be able to handle differentstorage capacities within the cartridge, for example, due to varyinglength, thickness or composition of the media, but any given drive hasonly been able to handle one physical size cartridge.

There have been suggestions to overcome this drive limitation withalternative cartridge designs in which the part of the cartridge thathas to fit into the drive matches the traditional physical cartridgedimensions, but then an extension is added to the back end of thecartridge to hold more media, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,262,860 (Hurtig et al.) and 5,239,436 (Aizawa et al.).

Unfortunately, the extension may stick out so far from the drive that itis unstable, or risks having a user use it as a shelf. The larger shapealso can only be used with a drive-type that allows the back end of thecartridge to stick out of the drive during use, that is, it cannot beused with a "softloading" drive which pulls the entire cartridge intothe drive for use. It also cannot be used with rotating media, such asdiskettes, since for rotating media the sideways dimensions of the mediacarrier must also be expanded to hold more media, which prevents thecarrier from fitting into the traditional drive.

Another concept has been to use adapters to allow drives to handledifferent tapes. For example, the CVHS videotape is physically smallerthan a standard VHS videotape. This means it cannot be played in astandard VHS drive. An adapter therefore was developed. With thisadapter, the CVHS tape is placed in the adapter, and the adapter is thenplaced in the VHS drive. The adapter positions the tape in the correctlocation for the standard VHS drive to use, and includes mechanicalcomponents to connect the drive mechanism of the standard VHS drive tothe drive mechanism of the mini VHS cartridge.

More recently, electronic adapters have appeared on the market toconnect the outputs of different types of drive components into a tapedrive. For example, adapters are available to allow the output of aportable audio CD player to be fed into and read by a tape drive. Thiscan be useful, for example, in an automobile, where it would bedifficult o to replace the tape drive with a CD player, but it isdesirable to use the audio system to which the tape drive is connectedto generate sound.

In these last two situations, an adapter has to be used which would fitin the standard tape drive. The drive itself could not accept a varietyof physically different size cartridges.

One popular computer tape cartridge and a drive for that cartridge wasoriginally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,255 (Von Behren) in 1972. Anadaptation of the original Von Behren tape cartridge and drive for a5.25 form factor drive has been very popular for some while. Morerecently, the physically smaller 3.5 form factor drive has become muchmore popular. (The terms 5.25 and 3.5 originally referred to thephysical dimensions in inches of two different size diskettes. The drivebays in computers into which drives for these diskettes fit becamestandardized. When tape drives then were designed to fit into these samebays, the 3.5 and 5.25 designations carried over as names because thedrive bays were commonly referred to by those terms. The numbers have nodirect relationship to the physical size of the tape cartridges or thedrives. They are just the common names for that size drive and thestandard size tape cartridges which will fit into them.)

An example of such a prior art 3.5 form factor cartridge 20 (alsoreferred to as a mini cartridge) is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in aschematically represented drive 40. The mini cartridge 20 includes twohubs 22 about which a tape 23 is wrapped in opposite directions. Thetape 23 is guided by guide pins 24 across a media access opening 26 atthe front of the cartridge 20. The media access opening 26 isselectively coverable by a door 27 which is pivotally mounted about apin 28 at the corner of the cartridge 20. The pin 28 is spring loaded tobias the door 27 closed.

The tape 23 is moved within the cartridge by an elastic belt 30. Thebelt 30 wraps partway around and frictionally engages the tape packsformed by the tape 23 around the hubs 22. It also is guided by cornerrollers 32 and a drive roller 33. Drive roller 33 has a drive puck 34fixed atop thereof. As taught by Von Behren, driving of the puck 34 willmove the elastic belt 30, which in turn moves the tape 23.

The cartridge 20 is shown positioned in a tape drive 40. Left rail 42and right rail 43 of the drive 40 engage grooves 36, 37 in the sides ofthe cartridge 20 to generally position the cartridge 20 in the drive 40.When fully inserted, the base plate 38 of the cartridge 20 (best seen inFIG. 2) will abut against stops 44 (shown in FIG. 1 ). The base plate 38and the stops 44 are carefully formed to ensure that this positions thefront end of the base plate 38 in the reference plane for the drive 40,thereby precisely positioning the cartridge 20 in the lateral directionindicated by arrow A. When so positioned, a read/write head 45 of thedrive 40 will engage the tape 23 through the media access opening 26,and a drive motor capstan 46 will engage the drive puck 34 to drive thebelt 30.

Precise positioning of the tape cartridge relative to the head 45 andcapstan 46 is essential for the drive 40 to be able to read from andwrite to the tape 23 accurately. The stops 44 position the cartridge 20laterally, that is, how far the tape cartridge will slide into the driveand how it is positioned angularly within the plane of the drawing inFIG. 1. However, they do not control the angle of the tape cartridgerelative to the head 45 in the direction vertical to the plane of thedrawing in Fig. 1. The industry standards therefore have defined threereference points 50, 51, 52 on the upper surface of the base plate 38 ofthe cartridge 20. As discussed in more detail below, locators on thelower surface of guide rails 42, 43 are carefully defined at these threelocations to ensure that if pressing of the base plate 38 up against theguide rails 42, 43 will position the reference points at the correctangle relative to the drive head 45. Since the base plate 38 is flat andthree reference points define a plane, positioning these three referencepoints properly ensures proper alignment of the cartridge 20.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the cartridge 20 is provided with a notch 54immediately behind the reference point 51. The lower surface of rightrail 43 then has the very precise locators at positions 55, 56corresponding to reference points 51, 52 on the base plate. A drive thenusually has some mechanism, shown here as rollers 57, 58 to force thecartridge base plate reference points 51, 52 up against the raillocators 55, 56. A similar mechanism is provided with reference point 50and rail 42, though it is not shown in the drawings. Roller 57 and theroller on the other side of the cartridge 20 also press the cartridge 20towards the stops 44. The net result is that the cartridge is firmlypressed against both the stops and the locator, thereby ensuringcompletely accurate positioning of the cartridge. A pressure pinsometimes is substituted for roller 58, since it only needs to press thecartridge up, not forward.

It will be noted that upon insertion of the cartridge 20 into the drive40 in the direction of arrow A, the end of right rail 43 will engage theend 29 of the door 27 on the opposite side of the pivot pin 28 from themain body of the door to pivot the door open about pivot pin 28, so thatthe door is opened to the position shown in FIG. 1 when the cartridge 20is fully inserted into the drive 40.

FIG. 3 depicts the front of a typical drive 40, without a tape inserted.The front of a typical drive 40 is usually protected by a face plate 48with an opening or bezel 49 into which the tape cartridge 20 can fit. Adoor usually is provided over the bezel opening, but has been omitted inthe drawing to show the approximate positions of the left and rightrails 42, 43.

It can be noted from FIGS. 1 and 3 in particular that there is a gooddeal of space on either side of the cartridge 20 in the drive 40. Thisspace might originally have been filled with electronics, such ascontrol systems for the drive. However, with the miniaturization ofelectronics, this space is now essentially empty, except for left andright rails 42, 43, which project well into the cartridge holding areaof the drive 40.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a drive is provided which can handlemedia cartridges having at least two physically different sizes, and acartridge is provided which can be used with such a drive. Preferably,one of the different size cartridges is an existing, widely usedcartridge size.

In a first embodiment, a drive has substantially redesigned rails or analternative support structure other than rails. One portion of thesupport structure properly supports a traditional cartridge, whileanother portion of the support structure supports a new cartridgeaccording to the present invention. The relative spacing of the mediaaccess opening and drive mechanism in the new cartridge is the same asin the traditional cartridge. The support structure positions thetraditional cartridge and the new cartridge such that their respectivemedia access holes and drive mechanism are in the same position when thecartridge is inserted in the drive. Thus, the drive can read from andwrite to either size tape cartridge.

In an alternative embodiment, the drive includes a fixed rail on oneside of the drive, and a spring loaded rail on the other side of thedrive. The spring loaded rail will flex out to hold a traditionalcartridge in position against the fixed rail, while it will flex back toallow a cartridge according to the present invention to be inserted intothe opening. Again, the head and drive mechanism of the traditionalcartridge and the cartridge according to the present invention have thesame relative spacings, so that this places them in the same locationsrelative to the head and drive motor when they are completely insertedinto the drive.

In each of the above cases, the new tape cartridge is wider than atraditional cartridge, extending into the prior dead space. Depending onthe design of the support structure, the modifications to the drive canbe very minor. They may just entail a modification to the rails andinclusion of a modified opening structure to open the cartridge door.Most simply, with a minicartridge they can include a right rail shapedmuch like a traditional right rail (though narrower), and a top orbottom rail positioned the same distance from the right rail as the leftedge of a traditional minicartridge. Alternatively, two top or bottomrails could be used to center the cartridges in the drive. In any case,the wider cartridge will hold more tape, significantly increasing thecapacity of the cartridge while allowing the drive to fit into thetraditional form factor drive bay.

The new cartridge usually will be provided with notches or shoulders tomake use of the modified support structure. For example, if a right railand top rail as just described are used, the right side of the new tapecartridge will have a support groove much like a traditionalminicartridge, and then a notch or shoulder would be provided toward theleft side of the new cartridge. One edge of this notch or shoulder wouldbe positioned the same distance from the right side of the cartridge asthe distance between the left and right sides of a traditionalminicartridge, so that the same top rail can support the new cartridge.If two top or bottom rails are used, the new cartridge can have twocorresponding notches or shoulders. It should also be noted that thesenotches or shoulders also can serve as cartridge differentiatingfeatures to prevent cartridges intended for a certain type of drive frombeing inserted into a different type of drive.

The drive and cartridge modifications above widen the cartridge.According to another aspect of the invention, the drive supportstructure can handle alternative height cartridges as well. This willallow it to accept different size cartridges, for example, tapecartridges with 6.23 mm (0.25 in) might be thinner than cartridges with8 mm wide tape. The necessary support can be provide a spring biasedcartridge support structure which can flex in the vertical direction.With the smaller 6.23 mm tape cartridge, the rail is biased down to holdthe tape cartridge in position. With the thicker tape cartridge, thesupport structure bends upward, still providing proper support for the 8mm tape cartridge.

In any of the above situations, preferably the reference points on thenew cartridge according to the present invention are positioned inexactly the same locations relative to the media access opening and thedrive mechanism as in the traditional cartridge. Doing this will insurethat both the old cartridge and the new cartridge are positioned in thesame locations relative to the head and drive motor capstan.

The advantage to the present invention is that since it will handle twoor more size cartridges, multiple drives are not needed to handlemultiple cartridges. A user who has been using traditional sizecartridges therefore can upgrade to the new, larger cartridges accordingto the present invention, but still be able to read and write data onthe older cartridges. This is particularly advantageous in situationswhere large numbers of the older cartridges have been used for archivepurposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a prior art tape minicartridgein a schematically represented prior art drive.

FIG. 2 is a side view in partial section of the minicartridge and driveof FIG. 1 along lines 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the drive of FIG. 1 (with no tape in thedrive) along line 3--3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a first embodiment of acartridge according to the present invention in a schematicallyrepresented first embodiment of a drive according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a view of the front face of the cartridge of FIG. 4, as seenalong lines 5--5 in FIG. 4 and with the door, media access opening anddrive puck omitted for clarity.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cartridge of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the front face of the drive of FIG. 4, asseen along lines 7--7 in FIG. 4 and with no tape in the drive.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional plan view of a second embodiment of acartridge according to the present invention in a schematicallyrepresented second embodiment of a drive according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view along lines 9--9 in FIG. 8 of the driveof FIG. 8 holding a traditional minicartridge.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view along lines 9--9 in FIG. 8 of thedrive of FIG. 8 holding the cartridge of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the cartridge of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional plan view of a third embodiment of acartridge according to the present invention in a schematicallyrepresented third embodiment of a drive according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the cartridge of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional plan view of a fourth embodiment of acartridge according to the present invention in a schematicallyrepresented fourth embodiment of a drive according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional plan view of a fifth embodiment of acartridge according to the present invention in a schematicallyrepresented fifth embodiment of a drive according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a side view in partial section of a cartridge in aschematically represented sixth embodiment of a drive according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 17 is a front view of a seventh embodiment of a drive and drivedoor according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view along line 18--18 in FIG. 17 of thedrive door of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a detail view of the door opening mechanism of FIGS. 8 and12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Details of the invention will be described primarily with reference tocomputer data tape cartridges and drives, although the invention can beused with other types of cartridges and drives. Referring to FIGS. 4-7,terms such as "width" or "wider" as used herein refer to the dimensionsof the cartridge in the direction of arrows W, while "length" or"longer" refer to the dimensions in the direction of the arrows L."Height" or "thickness" refer to the dimensions in the direction ofarrows "H". The "front" of the cartridge is the side of the cartridgewhere the media access opening and drive puck are located (which also isthe side of the cartridge normally inserted first into a drive), whilethe "front" of the drive is the portion of the drive into which thecartridge would normally be inserted (and which normally is exposed onthe outside of a computer). In both cases, the "back" is the sideopposite from the front. The "base" or "bottom" of the cartridge is therigid plate used to define reference points (as discussed below), whileit is the side of the drive toward which the base of the cartridge wouldbe oriented when inserted in the drive. In both cases, "lower" means onthe side toward the bottom, the "top" is the opposite side from thebottom, and "upper" means on the side toward the top. The "left" and"right" sides of the cartridge are as defined looking from the back tothe front of the cartridge with the top side up. The "left" and "right"sides of the drive are as defined looking from the front to the back ofthe drive with the top side up, (This apparent inconsistency is thecommon usage, and essentially designates the left and right sides as aperson inserting a cartridge into a drive normally would see them.)Arrows have been omitted from drawings other than FIGS. 4-7, but thedirections apply to them as well. It will be understood that use ofthese terms is for clarity only, and the drive and cartridge mayactually be oriented in any direction relative to the world in general.

FIGS. 4-7 depict first embodiments of a cartridge 60 and drive 80according to the present invention. The cartridge 60 is somewhat widerand longer than the standard minicartridge 20, the outline of the sidesof which is shown in phantom lines in FIG. 4. The hubs 62 of thecartridge 60 are repositioned to allow optimum use of the space withinthe larger cartridge 60. This repositioning allows for a larger tapepack, so that the cartridge 60 can hold more tape. Since the volume oftape contained in the tape pack increases with the square of the radiusof the tape pack, even a relatively small increase in the tape packradius amounts to a substantial increase in the tape volume which can beheld in the cartridge 60 compared to the cartridge 20.

The media access opening 63 and drive puck 64 are positioned in the samerelative locations to one another as they would be in the traditionalminicartridge 20. Similarly, the reference points 66, 67, 68 are locatedin the same positions relative to the media access opening 63 and drivepuck 64 as they would be in a traditional minicartridge 20.

To allow access to the reference points 66, 67, 68, the right groove 70can take substantially the same shape as the right groove 37 in thetraditional minicartridge 20. In the embodiment shown, access isprovided to the reference point 66 by running the corner sidewall 71 atan angle, through otherwise unused space in the cartridge 60. The leftgroove 36 may be eliminated, since the left rail 42 will be replaced bya top guide rail, discussed below. Positioning instead will be doneusing a support notch 73 in the top of the cartridge (best seen in FIGS.5 and 6) engageable with the top guide rail discussed below. (Note thatelimination of the left groove 36 further increases the interior spaceinside the cartridge available for the tape pack.)

The right rail 82 of the drive 80 does not extend as far into the driveas the traditional right rail 43. Instead, it is much narrower, so thatthe additional space is available for the larger cartridge 60. However,the shape of the portion of the rail 82 which actually interacts withthe cartridge is substantially the same as the shape of the traditionalrail 43.

In contrast, the left rail can be eliminated in the drive 80, andreplaced by a top guide rail 83 (see FIG. 7). The side 84 of top rail 83closest to the center of the drive 80 is positioned to engage the top ofthe left side 35 of a traditional minicartridge 20 (see FIG. 1 ). Theside 74 of the notch 73 closest to the center of the new cartridge 60 ispositioned so that it also will engage the side 84 of top rail 83, thatis, the relative positions of the side 74 of the notch 73 and the rightgroove 70 of the cartridge 60 are substantially the same as the relativepositions of the left side 35 and the right groove 37 of the traditionalminicartridge 20. Thus, the top rail 83 provides sideways positioningsupport to either the minicartridge 20 or the cartridge 60 by engagingthe left side 35 or the notch side 74, respectively.

The drive 80 also includes a reference point rail stub 85. This railstub 85 engages the reference point 66 on the new cartridge or thereference point 50 on the old cartridge 20. It also serves as a stop atthe front of the cartridge, so that together with the stop 86 at the endof right rail 83, it serves to position the front of the cartridge inthe proper plane for the head 88. The right rail 82 has locators similarto those on the traditional right rail 43, and the drive includesrollers or pressure pins like rollers 57, 58. With this structure, therollers hold either the traditional minicartridge 20 or the newcartridge 60 against the reference point rail stub 85, right rail 82 andstop 86 to position the cartridge in substantially the same manner thatrollers 57, 58 pushed the traditional minicartridge 20 against left andright rails 42, 43 and stops 44.

Reference point rail stub 85 preferably is positioned to the front ofthe cartridge as shown in the drawing, but it can extend in from theside, as shown in phantom at 81. The advantage to coming in from thefront is that a smaller stub can be used and if for any reason thecartridge designer chose to provide merely a notch around the referencepoint 66, rather than the angled wall 71 as shown, the rail stub stillcould reach the reference point 66. Similarly, while a notch 73 has beenshown, the notch could be a shoulder, with the lowered portion of thecartridge 60 extending all the way out to the left side of the cartridge(as shown in some of the other embodiments).

The bezel 87 of the drive 80 must of course be larger than the bezel 49of the traditional drive 40 to accommodate the larger cartridge 60. Inaddition, the positions of the read-write head 88 and drive motorcapstan 89 are shifted slightly to the right as seen in FIG. 4 fromtheir position closer to the center of a standard drive as shown inFIG. 1. The remaining electronics of the drive 80 are substantially thesame as those of the traditional drive. Such electronics are well knownto one of skill in the art, and therefore have been omitted for clarity.

The second embodiment shown in FIGS. 8-11 avoids the difficulties whichmay arise in some situations in making the modifications necessary toshift the head and drive motor capstan to the right (for example, havingto redesign a circuit board). In the first embodiment, the front rightportion of the cartridge 60 could be said to "match" the exterior shapeof a traditional minicartridge 20, that is, the media access opening 63,drive puck 64, reference points 66, 67, 68, notch side 74 and the likeall were positioned to the front right portion of the cartridge 60. Incontrast, the portion of the cartridge 90 of the second embodiment which"matches" the outline of the traditional minicartridge 20 is centered,as best seen in FIG. 11. In particular, the interior sides 93, 94 of thesupport shoulders 92, 93 are positioned relative to the media accessopening 95 and drive puck 96 of cartridge 90 in exactly the same manneras the tops of the left and right sides 35, 39 of the traditionalminicartridge 20 (see FIG. 1) are positioned relative to its mediaaccess opening 26 and drive puck 34.

As best seen in FIG. 8, one consequence of this is that while thereference points 98, 99 can still be accessed from notches in the frontof the cartridge 90, the reference point corresponding to traditionalreference point 56 is now completely inaccessible. Since a thirdreference point still is needed, a new reference point 100 is definednear the center of the cartridge. (The base plate of a cartridge is verystiff, so that the reference point actually could be defined virtuallyanywhere on the base plate. It is just the convention to use thelocation 56.) Engagement of the drive with this reference point will bedescribed below. In addition, latching notches 102, 103 are provided inthe base plate.

The door 105 for the media access opening 95 also is positioneddifferently from in the cartridge 60. In the traditional minicartridge20 and in the first embodiment of the cartridge 60 according to thepresent invention, the door is positioned at the corner of the datacartridge. If it were so positioned in the present cartridge 90, itwould not correspond in location to the door 27 of the traditionalminicartridge 20. The door 105 therefore is positioned somewhat in fromthe corner, as best seen in FIG. 8. A notch 106 to the right of thepivot pin 107 allows access to the reference point 99 and pivoting ofthe door 105, as will be described below.

In drive 110, the left and right rails 42, 43 have been eliminatedcompletely. They have been replaced by specially shaped top rails 112,113, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. As best seen in FIG. 9, each top railhas a shoulder 114, 115 formed in it which properly positions atraditional minicartridge 20 by engaging the top of the left and rightsides 35, 39 of the minicartridge 20.

As best seen in FIG. 10, the support shoulders 91, 92 in the cartridge90 according to the present invention are deep enough for the cartridge90 to fit under lower portion of the top rails 112, 113. However, sincethe inner sides 93, 94 of the support shoulders 91, 92 are positioned inthe same locations as the outer sides 35, 39 of a traditionalminicartridge 20, shoulders 114, 115 engage the support shoulder sides93, 94 to properly position the cartridge 90 according to the presentinvention.

Since there is no right rail 43 in the drive 110, some other mechanismmust be provided to open the media access door 105. One such dooropening mechanism 120 is shown generally in FIG. 8, and in detail inFIG. 19. In this mechanism, a rod 122 is slidably mounted in a mountingblock 123. A collar 124 is fixed to the rod and a spring 126 iscompressed between the mounting block 123 and collar 124. A stop 125 onthe rod 122 prevents the rod 122 from slipping through the mountingblock 123. The spring 126 is stiffer than the spring used to bias themedia access door 105 closed. As will be apparent, upon insertion ofeither a new cartridge 90 or a traditional minicartridge 20 into thedrive 110, the rod 122 will engage the end of the media access door 105,causing the door to pivot open. As the cartridge continues to move intothe drive 110, the spring 126 will be compressed, allowing the cartridgeto completely enter the drive. If desired, the door-opening mechanism120 can simply be incorporated into the spring-eject mechanism found inmany drives, to avoid duplication of the spring 126.

In addition to the top rails 112, 113, the drive 110 includes tworeference point rail stubs similar to reference point rail stub 85 inthe first embodiment. Only one is shown in the drawings (at 117). Theother would be positioned underneath door opening mechanism 120, and hasbeen omitted for clarity of illustration. These rail stubs engage thereference points 98, 99 and the front edge of the cartridge base platein much the same manner that reference point rail stub 85 engagedreference point 66 and the front edge of the cartridge base plate in thefirst embodiment.

The drive 110 also includes a locator 127 positioned beneath thereference point 100. To properly position either a traditionalminicartridge 20 or the cartridge 90 in the drive, the cartridge isinserted into the drive so that the reference points 98, 99 engage thereference rail stubs. Rollers or suitable pressure pins such as thoseshown in FIG. 2 are used to engage notches 102, 103 to hold thereference points 98, 99 in contact with the reference point rail stubs117, 118. An additional roller, pressure pin or the like presses down onthe top of the cartridge to engage reference point 100 on the bottom ofthe base plate of the cartridge with support 127. This defines threereference locations, properly positioning the cartridge.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the head 128 and drive motorcapstan 129 of the drive 110 are positioned not just in the samerelative locations, but in exactly the same locations as in atraditional drive such as that shown in FIG. 1. A large advantage tothis structure is that all of the electronics connected to the head 128and capstan 129 can be left substantially as is. Only the mechanicalcomponents of the cartridge support, namely the rails, reference pointlocators and door-opening mechanism need to be changed. This may be amuch simpler proposition than changing the electronics.

This embodiment has the further advantage that if desired at least thecentral portion of the cartridge 90 could be substantially taller thanin a traditional cartridge 20, as shown in FIG. 10 in phantom at 109.This can have significant advantages for the width of tape which can fitin the cartridge. With belt-driven cartridges, the drive puck normallyfits inside the cartridge above the tape. A wider tape, for example, 8mm instead of 6.23 mm, would fit in the portion of the cartridge 90 evenunder the support notches 91, 92. However, there might not then besufficient space for the drive puck 96 above the tape, or the cartridgetop might have to be very thin to accommodate the wider tape (reducingits strength). With the greater height shown in phantom at 109, therewould be ample space for the drive puck. Thus, provided the read-writehead and drive capstan were made tall enough to handle the differentpossible positions of the drive puck and width of the tape, the drive110 could handle a traditional minicartridge with 6.23 mm tape, a largercartridge 90 according to the present invention with 6.23 mm tape or astill larger cartridge 109 using 8 mm or wider tape. Still furthercartridge size could be handled by providing additional shoulders in thetop rails 112, 113.

FIG. 12 illustrates a third embodiment of a cartridge and driveaccording to the present invention. In this embodiment, supportshoulders 132, 133 are provided in the top of cartridge 130. Theseshoulders are analogous to the support shoulders 91, 92 in the secondembodiment of FIGS. 8-11, that is, they are symmetrically positioned oneither side of the cartridge so that the cartridge is centered ratherthan offset to the right. The notches 132, 133 also extend only part-wayback along the cartridge 130, rather than all the way to the base of thecartridge. This avoids limiting the height clearance inside thecartridge in any portion of the cartridge where tape might be, so thatwider width tape can fit in the cartridge without risk of interferencewith the notches 132, 133.

Dual support rails 135, 136 corresponding to top support rail 83 in thefirst embodiment then are provided in the drive 140 to engage notches132, 133. As in the second embodiment, the relative spacing of the innersides of top support rails 135, 136 is such as to hold the top of theleft and right sides of a standard minicartridge. As will be apparent,this design again has the advantage of allowing the head 138 and drivemotor capstan 139 to be left in their traditional positions.

A modification of the reference point locators similar to that of thesecond embodiment may be required in the drive 140 according to thisembodiment. A door opening mechanism such as that shown in FIG. 19 alsomay be needed.

In FIG. 12, the lines shown for the tape packs 142, 143 represent theirmaximum outer circumference, which overlap. The physical tape packsthemselves do not in fact overlap, since when the tape is wound on onepack it is not on the other, and vice-versa. However, overlapping thetape pack maximum diameters in this fashion can still further increasethe capacity of the cartridge.

The drives shown in FIGS. 4-13 use various fixed rails or supports toposition multiple size cartridges. In the embodiments shown in Figs.14-16, at least one of the guide rails is movable.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the right guide rail 151 of thedrive 150 is either formed by a spring or biased toward the center ofthe drive by a spring. In use, the sprung right rail 151 then will movetoward position 151' to hold a traditional minicartridge 20, whilemoving to position 151 to hold a larger cartridge 155 according to thepresent invention. Note that in this structure, the larger cartridge 155is provided with both left and right guide grooves. Depending upon theshape and positioning of the right rail 151, it may be necessary toprovide a door-opening mechanism such as shown in FIG. 19.

In the embodiment of FIG. 15, the left guide rail 161 of drive 160 iseither formed by a spring or biased toward the center of the drive by aspring. The right guide rail 162 can be formed in the traditional shape,though narrower than the traditional guide rail to allow use of thespace by the larger cartridge 165. In operation, the sprung left rail161 will move toward position 161' to hold a traditional minicartridge20, while moving to position 161 to hold a larger cartridge 165according to the present invention. Again, both a left and a right guidegroove are provided in the larger cartridge. In this embodiment, theright rail 162 can still serve its traditional function as adoor-opening mechanism.

The advantage of the designs in FIGS. 14 and 15 over those in the priorembodiments is that the entire cartridge can be at the maximum thickness(height) allowed in the drive. Notches or indentations to match toprails or the like are not necessary. This may allow a higher tapecapacity, since wider tape may be used.

In FIG. 14, note that the tape packs 156, 157 not only overlap, they aretheir hubs are offset from a line parallel to the front face of thecartridge. This can allow a still further increase in the capacity ofthe cartridge.

In addition to being sprung sideways, the support rails could be sprungvertically. FIG. 16 illustrates a cross section taken through a drive170 with a cartridge 175 having a notch 176 in its top surface such asthose described above. In this embodiment the top support rail 171 ofthe drive 170 is flexible upwards. This allows for different thicknesstape cartridges to be used in the drive. Such a vertically flexibleguide rail could be used with any of the embodiments discussed aboveusing a top rail.

The top rails could also be positioned on drive door rather than insidethe drive. The drive door has been omitted from FIGS. 1-16 for clarity.It is included in FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. 17 shows the front face 191 of adrive 190. The bezel 192 is closable by a door 195. The door 195 ispivotally mounted in the drive 190 in the usual manner, and preferablyis spring biased into a closed position.

According to the present invention, the door is provided with shoulders196, 197 which correspond in position to the edges of the top rails usedin the previous embodiments. As will be apparent, upon insertion of acartridge into the drive 190, the door 195 will pivot up, putting theshoulders 196, 197 in the same positions as the top rails in the priorembodiments, so that they can function to position a cartridge insubstantially the same way as the top rails.

While the door has been shown with two shoulders, a drive could use onedoor mounted shoulder with an internal side rail, use a ridge on thedoor instead of a shoulder to correspond to a notch in a cartridgeinstead of a shoulder, or otherwise mix and match the various supportstructures mentioned above.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the critical factor in designingthe drive and cartridges according to the present invention is that therelative placements of the drive mechanism and the media access openingin the cartridge be held constant in the variety of different sizecartridges. Preferably, the relative positions of the reference pointsalso are held constant. Suitable support mechanism then can be definedto insure that the drive mechanism, the media access opening andreference points are always properly positioned relative to the drivemotor and the read-write head.

Numerous modifications to the invention will be readily apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art. For example, various alternative rails orsupport mechanisms other than those described could be used, or thevarious rails and support mechanisms described herein could be combineddifferently. At the simplest, the top rails and corresponding notchesdescribed above could all be on the bottom of the drive cartridge ratherthan the top.

Likewise, while the invention has been shown applied to a mini size VonBehren-type elastic belt-driven tape cartridge, it is not limited tojust that type of cartridge. It can be used with any data storage mediacontainer (including cartridges, disks, cassettes or the like) where therelative positions of the drive/control mechanism for moving the mediaand the media access opening providing the drive head access to themedia can be held constant between different sizes. It also should benoted that the media access opening could be differently sized indifferent embodiments (for example, with a diskette having a largerdiameter), so long as the drive head can reach all of the media accessopening on all of the embodiments to be used in the drive.

The current invention therefore is intended to be limited only by thefollowing claims.

We claim:
 1. An information storage media container having a plurality of reference points for accurate positioning of the container, a housing of a first size containing information storage media and a drive/control mechanism for moving the media, the drive/control mechanism including a driven part, and the housing having a media access opening providing outside access to the media and a drive, opening providing outside access to the driven part, characterized in thata. the relative positions of the media access opening and the driven part are the same as for a second information storage media container having a second size; b. the portion of the housing having at least one of the media access opening and the drive opening is a different width than the analogous portion of the second information storage media container; c. the reference points are in the same relative positions to the media access opening and the driven part as the analogous reference points in the second container; andthe container has a guide structure at at least one of the top and bottom thereof, the relative position of a side of the guide structure to the media access opening and the driven part being the same as the relative position of one side the second container to its media access opening and driven part.
 2. The information storage container of claim 1, further characterized in that the guide means is selected from the group consisting of a notch and a shoulder formed in the top of the container, one edge of the notch or shoulder having the same relative position to the media access opening and the driven part as the relative position of one side of the second container to its media access opening and driven part.
 3. The information storage container of claim 1, further characterized in that the container has a second such guide structure at at least one of the top and bottom thereof, the relative position of a side of the second guide structure to the media access opening and the driven part being the same as the relative position of the other side of the second container to its media access opening and driven part.
 4. The information storage container of claim 1, characterized in that the presence or absence of the guide structure prevents the container from being inserted into an inappropriate drive.
 5. The information storage container of claim 1, further characterized in that a cover is movably mounted to the container to be movable between positions covering and uncovering the media access opening, the relative position of the cover to the media access opening and driven part being the same as in the second container.
 6. A method of manufacturing a drive to handle multiple size cartridges, comprising:a. selecting an established cartridge standard for a first cartridge of a type in which the relative positions of a media access opening and a drive/control mechanism for the cartridge could be held constant even if the size of the cartridge was otherwise changed; b. designing and assembling a drive body having a head and a drive mechanism having the appropriate relative positions to engage the first cartridge; c. defining a second cartridge having the same relative positions for the media access opening and a drive/control mechanism as defined in the standard, but wherein the width of the portion of the second cartridge normally positioned inside the drive when in use in a drive is of a different size than that defined in the standard; d. defining and assembling a cartridge support structure which can support both the first and second cartridges in the correct position to engage the head and drive mechanism.
 7. A data storage drive for accessing media in containers of at least two different front face widths, each container having a housing, a media access opening, a drive/control mechanism for moving the media with a driven part accessible from the outside of the housing and a plurality of reference points, the relative positions of at least the media access opening and the driven part being the same in the containers regardless of other aspects of their size, the drive comprising:a. a head for accessing the media through the media access opening; b. a driving motor engageable with the driven part to drive the drive/control mechanism; c. a support mechanism for positioning the media access opening and the drive/control mechanism of the different size containers a predefined position relative to the head and driving motor; and d. a rail on at least one side of the drive having a surface engageable with the side of each of the different size containers, and biasing means for biasing the rail toward the center of the drive and into engagement with the side of a container in the drive.
 8. A data storage tape cartridge having a housing of a first size, containing data storage tape, a belt for moving the tape and a drive puck for moving the belt, and the housing having a media access opening providing outside access to the tape and a drive opening providing outside access to the drive puck, the media access opening and the drive opening being positioned on a front face of the housing, characterized in that:a. the relative positions of the media access opening and the drive puck are the same as those defined by an industry standard for a data storage tape cartridge, but with a second size; and b. the front face of the housing is wider than the front face defined by the standard.
 9. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, further characterized in that the standard further defines the relative positions of reference points accessible from the outside of a cartridge, and further characterized in that the data storage tape cartridge has at least one reference point accessible from the outside of the cartridge which has the same position relative to the media access opening and the drive puck as the reference point defined by the standard.
 10. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 9, further characterized in that the data cartridge has all of the reference points defined by the standard.
 11. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, further characterized in that the first size is larger than the second size.
 12. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 11, further characterized in that the standard defines a volume in a cartridge for holding tape, and further characterized in that the cartridge has a larger volume to hold tape than that defined by the standard.
 13. The data storage cartridge of claim 8, further characterized in that the standard defines a height for a center portion of a cartridge and a width for the tape in a cartridge, and further characterized in that the center of the data storage cartridge is raised compared to the center portion defined by the standard, and the cartridge contains tape that has a different width than that defined by the standard.
 14. The data storage cartridge of claim 13, further characterized in that the drive puck is located in the raised center portion of the cartridge.
 15. The data storage cartridge of claim 13, further characterized in that the tape is wider than that defined by the standard.
 16. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, further characterized in that the standard defines a distance between the sides of a cartridge and the position of support grooves on each side of the cartridge, and further characterized in that a support structure is formed in at least one of the top and bottom of the housing of the data storage cartridge and a groove is formed in one side of the housing, the relative positions of one side of the support structure and the groove being substantially the same as the relative position of a groove and the opposite side of a cartridge defined by the standard.
 17. The information storage container of claim 16, characterized in that the presence or absence of the support structure shoulder prevents the container from being inserted into an inappropriate drive.
 18. The information storage container of claim 16, characterized in that the support structure is selected from the group consisting of a notch and a shoulder.
 19. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, wherein the standard defines a distance between the sides of the cartridge, and further characterized in that a support structure is formed in at least one of the top and bottom of the housing toward each side of the data storage cartridge, the relative positions of one side of each of the two support structures being substantially the same as the relative positions of the two sides defined by the standard.
 20. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, in which the housing contains two hubs about which the tape is wound to form a tape pack, and further characterized in that the maximum outer circumferences of the tape packs overlap.
 21. The data storage tape cartridge of claim 8, in which the housing contains two hubs about which the tape is wound, and further characterized in that the line defined between the axes of the hubs is not parallel to the front face of the housing.
 22. A data storage drive for accessing media in containers of at least two different front face widths, each container having a housing, a media access opening, a drive/control mechanism for moving the media with a driven part accessible from the outside of the housing and a plurality of reference points, the relative positions of at least the media access opening and the driven part being the same in the containers regardless of other aspects of their size, and the first size container having a first support structure formed in at least one of the top and bottom surface of the container, one side of the support structure having the same position relative to the media access opening and driven part as the side of the second size container the drive comprising:a. a head for accessing the media through the media access opening; b. a driving motor engageable with the driven part to drive the drive/control mechanism; c. a support mechanism for positioning the media access opening and the drive/control mechanism of the different size containers at a predefined position relative to the head and driving motor, and d. a rail on at least one of the top and bottom sides of the drive having a surface engageable with the side of the support structure when the first size container is in the drive and engageable with the side of the second size container when the second size container is in the drive.
 23. The data storage drive of claim 22, wherein a first size container has a first support structure formed in at least one of the top and bottom surface of the container, one side of the support structure having the same position relative to the media access opening and driven part as the side of a second size container, and wherein the drive further comprises a rail on at least one of the top and bottom sides of the drive having a surface engageable with the side of the support structure when the first size container is in the drive and engageable with the side of the second size container when the second size container is in the drive.
 24. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 22, wherein the drive further comprises a pivotally mounted door, and the rail is mounted to the door.
 25. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 22, wherein rail is movably mounted in the drive, and the drive further comprises biasing means basing the rail toward the middle of the drive.
 26. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 22, wherein the first size container has a second such support structure formed in at least one of the top and bottom surface of the container on the opposite side of the media access hole from the first support structure, the side of the second support structure having the same position relative to the media access opening and driven part as the other side of the second size container, and wherein the drive further comprises a second rail on at least one of the top and bottom sides of the drive having a surface engageable with the side of the second support structure when the first size container is in the drive and engageable with the other side of the second size container when the second size container is in the drive.
 27. A data storage tape cartridge selectively positionable in a drive, comprising:a. a cover having a front, back, top and two sides; b. a baseplate having a top and bottom, and having reference points defined on the top and bottom thereof, the baseplate being mounted to the cover to form a housing; c. a media access opening formed in the housing; d. a drive opening formed in the housing; e. hubs rotatably mounted in the housing; f. tape media wrapped around the two hubs in the housing to form two tape packs, extending past the media access opening and accessible from the outside of the housing through the media access opening; g. a drive puck rotatably mounted in the housing and accessible from the outside of the housing through the drive opening; h. at least one belt roller rotatably mounted in the housing on the opposite side of the tape packs from the drive puck; and i. an elastic belt wrapped around the drive puck, belt roller and the tape such that the rotation of the drive puck will move the tape.
 28. A data storage drive for accessing media in containers of at least two different front face widths, each container having a housing, a media access opening, a drive/control mechanism for moving the media with a driven part accessible from the outside of the housing and a plurality of reference points, the relative positions of at least the media access opening and the driven part being the same in the containers regardless of other aspects of their size, and further having a door with a main door body and an extension, the door being mounted to the housing by a pivot pin between the main door body and the extension, and pivotal between a closed position covering the media access opening and an open position exposing the media access opening, the drive comprising:a. a head for accessing the media through the media access opening; b. a driving motor engageable with the driven part to drive the drive/control mechanism; c. a support mechanism for positioning the media access opening and the drive/control mechanism of the different size containers a predefined position relative to the head and driving motor; d. a rod movably mounted in the drive and engageable with the door extension of either size cartridge upon insertion of the cartridge into the drive; and e. a biasing mechanism for biasing the rod toward the door extension while allowing the rod to retract as either size cartridge is inserted into the drive far enough to allow proper seating of the cartridge in the drive, while keeping the rod pressed against the door extension firmly enough to hold the door pivoted in its open position when the cartridge is so seated.
 29. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 28, wherein each size cartridge further includes a spring biasing the door to its closed position and the biasing mechanism in the drive comprises a spring which is stronger than the cartridge spring.
 30. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 28, wherein the rod is slidably mounted.
 31. A data storage cartridge drive for use with a data cartridge, the cartridge having a door mounted pivotally thereon to be pivotal between an open and a closed position, the door having a main body on one side of the pivot and an extension on the other side of the pivot, and the drive comprising:a. a cartridge receiving area for selectively receiving a cartridge through one end thereof; b. a rod movably mounted in the drive substantially on the opposite side of the cartridge receiving area from the one end, and engageable with the door extension of a cartridge upon insertion of a cartridge into the drive; and c. a biasing mechanism for biasing the rod toward the door extension while allowing the rod to retract as a cartridge is inserted into the cartridge receiving area far enough to allow proper seating of the cartridge in the drive, while keeping the rod pressed against the door extension firmly enough to hold the door pivoted in its open position when the cartridge is so seated.
 32. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 31 wherein the cartridge further includes a spring biasing the door to its closed position and the biasing mechanism in the drive comprises a spring which is stronger than the spring in the cartridge.
 33. A method of manufacturing a drive to handle multiple size cartridges, comprising:a. selecting an established cartridge standard for a first cartridge of a type having a housing containing media, a media access opening formed in the housing through which the media can be accessed from the outside of the housing, a drive/control mechanism for controlling motion of the media within the cartridge, and a drive opening formed in the housing through which the drive/control mechanism can be accessed from the outside of the housing, and in which the relative positions of the media access opening and drive opening of the cartridge could be held constant even if the size and shape of the cartridge was otherwise changed; b. designing and assembling a drive chassis having a head and a drive mechanism having the appropriate relative positions to engage the media and drive/control mechanism of the first cartridge; c. defining a second cartridge having the same relative positions for the media access opening and drive opening as defined in the standard, but a different housing size than that defined in the standard, and including a support structure matching the size and position of sides of the cartridge defined in the standard; d. defining and assembling a cartridge support mechanism in the drive which can support both the first and second cartridges in the correct position to engage the head and drive/control mechanism of both size cartridges through the media access opening and drive opening, by engaging the sides of the first cartridge, and the support structure of the second cartridge.
 34. A data storage tape cartridge having a housing of a first size, containing data storage tape, a belt for moving the tape and a drive puck for moving the belt, and the housing having a media access opening providing outside access to the tape and a drive opening providing outside access to the drive puck, the media access opening and the drive opening being positioned on a front face of the housing, characterized in that:a. the relative positions of the media access opening and the drive puck are the same as those defined by an industry standard for a data storage tape cartridge, but a second size; and b. the width of at least a portion of the housing of the cartridge which would normally be positioned inside the drive when used therewith is different from the width defined by the industry standard for the analogous part of the industry standard cartridge.
 35. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard further defines the positions of reference points accessible from the outside of a cartridge to enable accurate positioning of a cartridge in a drive, and further characterized in that the cartridge has at least one reference point accessible from the outside of the cartridge which has the same position relative to the media access opening and the drive puck as at least one reference point defined by the standard.
 36. The cartridge of claim 35, further characterized in that the cartridge has all of the reference points accessible from the outside thereof which are defined by the standard.
 37. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard defines sides of a cartridge and the distance therebetween, and further characterized in that two support structures are formed in at least one of the top and bottom of the housing, one toward each side of the cartridge, the relative positions of one side of each of the two support structures being substantially the same as the relative positions of the two sides defined by the standard.
 38. The cartridge of claim 37, further characterized in that the support structure is selected from the group consisting of a notch and a shoulder.
 39. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard defines sides of a cartridge, support grooves formed on each side of the cartridge and the relative positions between of the sides and support grooves, and further characterized in that a support structure is formed in at least one of the top and bottom of the housing of the cartridge and a groove is formed in one side of the housing of the cartridge, the relative positions of one side of the support structure and the groove being substantially the same as the relative positions of a support groove and the opposite side of a cartridge as defined by the standard.
 40. The cartridge of claim 39, characterized in that the presence or absence of the support structure prevents the cartridge from being inserted into an inappropriate drive.
 41. The cartridges of claim 34, further characterized in that the housing contains two hubs about which the tape is wound to form tape packs, and the maximum outer circumferences of the tape packs overlap.
 42. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard defines a volume in a cartridge for holding tape, and further characterized in that the cartridge has a larger volume to hold tape than that defined by the standard.
 43. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard defines a width for the tape in a cartridge, and further characterized in that the tape in the cartridge is wider than the tape defined by the standard.
 44. The cartridge of claim 34, wherein the standard defines a height for a center portion of a cartridge, and further characterized in that center of the cartridge is raised compared to the center portion defined by the standard.
 45. The cartridge of claim 44, further characterized in that the drive puck is located in the raised center portion of the cartridge.
 46. The cartridge of claim 34, further characterized in that the first size is larger than the second size.
 47. A data storage tape cartridge selectively positionable in a drive, comprising:a. a housing having a top, a bottom and a size; b. a media access opening formed in the housing; c drive opening formed in the housing; d. two hubs rotatably mounted in the housing; e. tape media wrapped around the two hubs in the housing to form two tape packs, extending past the media access opening and accessible from the outside of the housing through the media access opening; f. a drive puck rotatably mounted in the housing and accessible from the outside of the housing through the drive opening; g. at least one belt roller rotatably mounted in the housing on the opposite side of the tape packs from the drive puck; h. an elastic belt wrapped around the drive puck, the tape packs and the belt roller such that rotation of the drive puck will move the tape; and i. shoulders formed in the top of the housing to assist in guiding the cartridge upon insertion into the drive, the distance between the shoulders being substantially the same as the distance defined by an industry standard for the top side edges of a data cartridge having a different size.
 48. The data cartridge of claim 47, wherein the distance between the top and bottom of the cartridge is substantially the same as the distance defined by the standard for a cartridge.
 49. The data cartridge of claim 47, wherein the shoulders extend across the entire top of the cartridge.
 50. A data storage tape cartridge selectively positionable in a drive, comprising:a. a cover having a front,back, top and two sides; b. a baseplate having a top and bottom, the baseplate being mounted to the cover to form a housing, the width of at least a portion of the housing which would normally be positioned inside the drive when used therewith being different from the width defined by an industry standard for a data cartridge; c. a media access opening formed in the housing; d. a drive opening formed in the housing; e. hubs rotatably mounted in the housing; f. tape media wrapped around the two hubs in the housing to form two tape packs, extending past the media access opening and accessible from the outside of the housing through the media access opening; g. a drive puck rotatably mounted in the housing and accessible from the outside of the housing through the drive opening; h. at least one belt roller rotatably mounted in the housing on the opposite side of the tape packs from the drive puck; and i. an elastic belt wrapped around the drive puck, belt roller and the tape such that the rotation of the drive puck will move the tape.
 51. The data cartridge of claim 50, wherein the center of gravity of the cartridge is positioned within the housing at a location which would normally be positioned inside a drive when used therewith.
 52. A data storage cartridge drive for use with a data cartridge, the drive comprising:a. a cartridge receiving area for selectively receiving a cartridge through one end thereof; b. a drive door pivotally mounted contiguous to the end of the cartridge receiving area and pivotal between a closed position closing the end of the cartridge receiving area and an open position allowing a cartridge to be inserted through the end into the cartridge receiving area; and c. a support mechanism formed on a face of the door, the support mechanism engaging a cartridge to guide the cartridge into the cartridge receiving area when the door is pivoted into the open position.
 53. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 52, wherein the support mechanism comprises shoulders formed on the face of the door near either side thereof.
 54. A data storage drive for accessing media in at least two types of data cartridges, each cartridge having a housing, a media access opening, and a drive/control mechanism for moving the media with a driven part accessible from the outside of the housing, wherein the widths of at a least a portion of the housings of the cartridges which normally are positioned inside the drive when used therewith are different, the relative positions of at least the media access opening and the driven part are the same regardless of other aspects of their size and at least the first type of data cartridges has a support structure formed therein having the same position relative to the media access opening and the driven part as a side of the second type of data cartridge, the drive comprising:a. a head for accessing the media through the media access opening; b. a driving motor engageable with the driven part to drive the drive/control mechanism; and c. a support mechanism for engaging the support structure of the first type of data cartridge or the side of the second type of data cartridge to position the media access opening and the drive/control mechanism of either type of cartridge at a predefined position relative to the head and driving motor.
 55. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54, wherein the first type of cartridge has a second such support structure formed in at least one of the top and bottom surfaces of the cartridge on the opposite side of the media access hole from the first support structure, the second type of cartridge has at least a second side, and the side of the second support structure has the same position relative to the media access opening and driven part of the first type of cartridge as the second side of the second type of cartridge has to the media access opening and driven part of the second type of cartridge, and wherein the drive further comprises a second support mechanism engageable with the side of the second support structure when the first type of cartridge is in the drive and engageable with the second side of the second type of cartridge when the second type of cartridge is in the drive.
 56. The data storage drive of claim 54, wherein the support mechanism in the drive further comprises rails and stepped supports on at least one of the top and bottom sides of the drive having a surface engageable with the side of the support structure when the first type of cartridge is in the drive and engageable with the side of the second type of cartridge when the second type of cartridge is in the drive.
 57. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54 wherein the drive further comprises a pivotally mounted door, and the support mechanism is mounted on the door.
 58. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54, wherein the support mechanism comprises a rail which is movably mounted in the drive, and the drive further comprises a spring biasing the rail toward the middle of the drive.
 59. The data storage drive of claim 54, wherein each type of cartridge has at least one side, and the support element comprises a rail having a surface engageable with the side of each of the different type cartridges, and a spring for biasing the rail toward the center of the drive and into engagement with the side of a cartridge in the drive.
 60. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54, wherein the first type of cartridge has a set of reference points defined thereon to enable accurate positioning of the cartridge in a drive, and the second type of cartridge has at least some of the same reference points accessible from the outside thereof in the same relative positions to the media access opening and the drive opening as the points in the first type of cartridge, wherein the drive further comprises at least one rail stub engageable with at least one corresponding reference point on either type of cartridge to accurately position the cartridge in the drive.
 61. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54 wherein at least one type of cartridge has a baseplate on the bottom thereof, with at least two reference points defined on the baseplate to enable accurate positioning of the cartridge in a drive and with at least one of the reference points being on the opposite side of the baseplate from at least one other reference point, and wherein the drive further comprises a positioner for engaging said reference points to accurately position the cartridge in the drive.
 62. The data storage cartridge drive of claim 54 wherein the center of gravity of either type of cartridge would normally be inside the drive when a cartridge is inserted in the drive. 